CREW_FILE

Kampfgeschwader 55
9 Staffel, III Gruppe
Villacoublay
detached service with III/Kampfgeschwader 1
Rosieres en Senterre

He 111 P-1

Unterfeldwebel Ehrlich

View the He 111

Kampfgeschwader 53

MISSION SUMMARY

MISSION #	DATE	TARGET AREA AND TARGET	BOMB RUN	ENEMY AC CLAIMS D/P/K	CREW CASULTIES L/S/K	NOTES
1/1	July 10, 1940	Isle of Wight, Convoy 4	60	0/0/1	1/1/0	New Crew July 1940. Raft damaged; Left enigine hit; Rudder Hit; Superficial Damage.
2/2	July 12, 1940	Watton, Industry	40	2/0/0	-	Intercom damaged; Right wing flaps hit; Right wing aileron destroyed; Superficial hits; Mechanical Failure - Left wheel punctured.
3/3	July 13/14, 1940	Location L, Mines	ON - Unsuccessful Mine Sweepers Cleared	-	-	Control Cables hit; Bomb Doors inoperable; Mines hit.
4/4	July 15, 1940	Weybridge, Industry	0	0/1/1	-	Left wing root; Right wing root; Right tail plane wing root; supeficial damage.
-	July 16, 1940	Transfer to III/KG 1, Rosieres	-	-	-	Arrived at Rosieres from Villacoublay.
5/5	July 17, 1940	Dover, Harbour	0	-	2/0/1	Mission from Rosieres en Senterre. Right tail plane wing root, Left wing root and Right wing root 1 hit each in the previous mission; Left wing root two more hits; Elevator cock-pit controls damaged; Bomb release damaged; Left tank hit and self seal; Right tank hit and leakage; Right flap inoperable; Left flap inoperable; Dorsal gun; Nose gun; Control cables hit; Greenhouse hit; Left aileron damaged; Engine #1 hit; Engine #2 hit; Right gear brake damaged; Superficial hits.
6/6	July 22, 1940	Great Yarmouth, Convoy	10	-	-	Two superficial hits.
7/7	July 23, 1940	Bristol, Rural Area	30	4/0/1	1/1/2	Returned out of formation on one engine. He 111 G1 + T3 Crashed at landing. Right wing root hit; Right aileron destroyed; left flap hit; Left aileron destroyed; Right engine oil tank fire; Greenhouse hit; Right gear door damaged; Nose oxygen system hit; Superficial hits.

COMBAT CREW

CREW STATION
NAME/RANK
EXPERIENCE Missions CLAIMED KILLS
CONFIRMED Experience Points
Notes

Pilot

Frank Ehrlich

Feldwebel
+0 7
Mission: 8 ½

Award:

Observer

Gunnery:

Award:

Mission:

Bombardier

Walter Schwartz

Obergefreiter
+0 6 3/0/1

1 Gunnery: 3 ½

Award: 1

Mission: 7

ON/%: 3/80 Replacement for H.gef. Neumann.
KIA, July 23, 1940

Wireless Operator

Mauritz Schramm

Gefreiter
-1 2 2/0/1 Gunnery: 3

Award:

Mission: 4 Replacement for Ob.gef. Krüger.
INFIRMARY: Serious Wound - July 23, 1940. Will return to duty.

Engineer

Martin Wagner

Hauptgefreiter
+0 7 1/1/0 Gunnery: 1 ½

Award: 0

Mission: 8 KIA, July 23, 1940.

CREW NOTES

MISSION	PILOT	OBSERVER	NOSE GUNNER	WIRELESS OP.	ENGINEER
1/1	Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel	Neumann Hauptgefreiter SW-IH		Krüger Obergefreiter LW	Wagner Obergefreiter
2/2		Schwartz Obergefreiter
3/3
4/4
5/5	LW			2 x SW	LW
6/6				Schramm Gefreiter
7/7	Crash LW	Crash KIA		Crash SW-R

GREEN: New crew man. WHITE: Wounded. RED: KIA. BLUE: Frost bite. LT GREEN: Temporary Replacement crew man. PINK: MIA.

Wound Badge (Black, Silver, Gold): Wounded (The Iron Cross, 2nd Class will be awarded with the Silver or Gold Wound Badge.

Iron Cross, 2nd Class (This image will be used when it is awarded with the Silver or Gold Wound Badge.)

Iron Cross, 2nd Class (This image will be used when it is awarded for bravery or achievement.)

RAF Fighter claimed KIA - S: Spitfire; H: Hurricane; G: Gladiator; F: Fulmar; D: Defiant; B: Blenheim; Be: Beaufighter. (Arrow pointing down was actually a strafing victory. An aerial victory pointed upwards. I choose the former for the esthetics.)

Rank insignia: Crewman promoted.

AFTER ACTION REPORT

MISSION #	DATE	TARGET AREA AND TARGET	MISSION DESCRIPTION
7/7	July 23, 1940	Bristol, Rural Area	From Rosieres. 303 Squadron was patrolling one area near Beachy Head. Fortunately our Bf 109s were alert and jumped them before they could make any co-ordinated attacks. Evenso, two waves attacked. Both were Hurricanes from 303 Squadron (Wave #52 and 65). All but one were driven off and this last enemy made three attacks on us. ********* Has luck run out for Feldwebel Ehrlich and crew? An engine fire over the target and then they had to fly out of formation on one engine back to Rosieres. Three Gladiators attacked over Bristol and one soon after they left. There were no other enemies until a Defiant attacked over the Channel. Bf 110s took care of it before it had a chance to fire. The landing was a disaster. One engine out (-4), one gear down (-1) and ailerons destroyed (-1). (Landing roll on 2D6 was "5.) Feldwebel Frank Ehrlich could have ordered his crew to bail out, but all he could see was an Iron Cross. Due to his "Itching Neck" he now has to live with the death of Obergefreiter Walter Schwartz, who died in the crash. He was lightly wounded himself and Gefreiter Mauritz Schramm was seriously wounded. He will recover and return to duty. "I wanted to save the plane," was Feldwebel Ehrlich's reply. His judgement has cost him his recent promotion and his assignment as a pilot. He is demoted back to Unterfeldwebel and will now be an Observer. Feldwebel Ehrlich could have descended to low-level to try to escape enemy fighters and he should have ordered his crew to bail out over the base and abandon the bomber. Hauptgefreiter Martin Wagner was already killed and none of the other crew men was wounded. They could easily have bailed out. Feldwebel Frnak ehrlich has proven himself to be a disgrace for III/Kampfgeschwader 55 and the Luftwaffe. Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich was transferred from KG 55 to KG 1, but they did not want him because of the incident on July 23 when he crashed his bomber. KG 1 sent him om to KG 53 at Lille. They do not know yet what has happened. He is now the Observer in Unteroffizier Walter Kolbeck's crew. They have not yet flown a mission. They are fresh from a replacement Gruppe. Unterfeldwebel Ehrlich has replaced the Observer who was seriously injured in a car crash and will be returned to Germany.
6/6	July 22, 1940	Great Yarmouth, Convoy	From Rosieres today. Our plane had been patched up and we had a replacement for Obergefreiter Krüger by the radio. There was no unusual RAF activity. A Do 17 reconaisance plane had spotted a convoy in the North Sea. We were alerted and left this morning. Approximately 25 kms NE Great Yarmouth we intercepted it. Bf 109s were with us all the way and drove off two waves of fighters patrolling over the target. 19 Squadron was seen. Light flak opened up but did not hit our bomber. Obergefreiter Schwartz missed his target. we were in the tail Staffel of the last Gruppe. Our bombs hit near a ship and damaged it only slightly. (Off Target, 10% - "12" rolled.) No further attacks until approximately 70 kms N of the French coast. Three Spitfeuer attacked. One missed. Two hit and came around for a second attack. One of them was driven off by our fighters and the other missed. We crossed the coast line and a Defiant attacked from 6 low (Wave 22). It was a quick attack. He missed at first, but when he dove away he fired again. They are mean with the rear turret! Landing was uneventful. Signed by Frank Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich, Pilot
5/5	July 17, 1940	Dover, Harbour	The mission today is to Dover. We have not had much training with the crews in this Gruppe, so a short mission to Dover will be good training. We arrived yesterday at Rosieres, still with the battle damge ni the wing roots from the day before yesterday. A little worried now, but we can still take a couple of hits to the wings before they rip off. I am not surprised any more when enemy fighters and flak hit me. I am more surprised when they miss! My defensive To Hit rolls are more often than not a miss, but when I roll for the enemy, I'd say that 7-8 times out of 10 is a hit, from all directions, and perhaps especially from 10, 12 and 1, where the result is 6 and when an ace fires I usually roll 4 or 5. It doesn't seem to matter if it is a German or British pilot. It always the same. And then Light flak: In B-17 it hits on 2 and 12. In He 111 it hits on 2, 3, 10, 12. Light flak hits me on 2, 12 in B-17 and now of course my lt flak to hit rolls are at least one of the four. My dice are German, when I fly the B-17, B-26 and they switch to the RAF when I fly the He 111. WHY???? Chaos - That is the only word I can use to describe this mission. It was short, only to Dover (in Zone 2), but there was HEAVY fighter oposition over the target. They waited for us, as if they knew we were coming. Three waves attacked before the bomb run (24 - One Spitfire, 51 - One Spitfire, 62 - Four Hurricanes which turned out to be from 303 Squadron). The first two Spitfeuer were driven off by our Bf 109s, but none of the 303 Squadron Hurricanes were driven off by the fighter cover. I remember two hit us and made two successive attacks, before they left when flak opened up. (One 303 Pilot hit the bombs which would have detonated had I not used the Lucky Charm from the previous mission.) It was Poor weather and Light Flak over Dover. Three flak hits in the Radio Room, Waist/Tail andNose. Obergefreiter Krüger was seriously wounded by this flak. On the first run we could not see the target so the leader went around for a second try. Four Spitfeuer attacked during the second turn (wave #63). Two were driven off, but the other two stayed for a total of three attacks each, causing much damage. Flak opened up again as we neared the release point. This time we were hit again by two bursts nearby, a total of seven hits. Obergefreiter Schwarz could see the harbour though the undercast. With bomb release damaged and the flak hits shaking us around, our combined skill was not enough to hit it. A Defiant attacked from 12 low in the first wave (#14) after the bomb run. (This fighter was actually driven off by fighter cover, but I wanted to test the Defiant vs my He 111.) He hit the right wing and fired again when he passed us. It was driven off by Bf 109s before it could attack again. Seven Spitfeuer attacked in two waves (53 and 15) soon after the Defiant. Four or five of them attacked a total of three times. I though our time had come. Long before these last atatcks the dorsal and nose guns had both been destroyed. Our only hope lay in the ventral gun fired by Obergefreiter Wagner. The fighters must have known this as very few attacked within his field of fire at 5, 6 and 7. The plane was falling apart when we neared Rosieres. No enemies were seen over France. I don't think we would have made it if another wave attacked. The brake was damaged on the left wheel so I decided to make a belly landing instead of landing with damaged brakes. It made it juuust a bit safer (-2 vs -3 land modifier). We counted 60 hits. Of these 34 were superficial. Two men wounded and one killed. Signed by Frank Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich, Pilot PLAY TEST REMARKS: I thought I forgot about the Poor Weather modifier on the Bomb Run, but when I checked I had not included it in the weather table. The method is different in He 111. When Fair, Poor or Bad roll a D6 before the bomb run. If the result is within a certain range no bomb run is possible. Go around or abort. I think that I will make this method optional and add the -1 and -2 weather modifiers from the original B-17 rules. I may change the Belly Landing Modifier from -2 to -3 or -4. CORRECTIONS: Wave #53 is Four Spitfires: 6 High, 6 Level, 7 Level and 7 Low. Bad weather Fighter Waves and Flak modifier is -2, not -1.
-	July 16, 1940	Transfer to III/KG 1, Rosieres	We have orders to fly to Rosieres en Senterre where we will fly with III/Kampfgeschwader 1. For how long? We don't know. Good news is that Obergefreiter Krüger has been awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class for his confirmed Spitfeuer he shot down on July 10. It was not a surprise, only a matter of time when HQ would read his report and send him his award. A single engined fighter is worth one point and not more is needed for the Iron Cross second class. Congratulations!
4/4	July 15, 1940	Weybridge, Industry	This turned out to be tough mission in the end. There were no fighters at all on the route to Weybridge. Light flak was intense. We were in the tail staffelin the last gruppe so the flak gunners had zeroed in at us. We weren't hit, but Obergefreiter Schwartz missed completely. He had a bad day. Three Spitfires attacked over London when we turned around. One of them hit and came around for a second and third attack. He was persistent. His weak machine guns didn't harm us, but he damaged the right tail plane root before he left. It was a quiet flight back to France and we believed that the RAF had had enough. At the same time Obergefreiter Krüger saw four Hurricanes attacking from behind (in Zone 2). These were from 401 Squadron, very bad pilots. Or so we thought. One lucky hit can bring a bomber down and one hit the electrical system and we thought our time had come. Our bomber coughed and I was about to loose control, when it regained altitude (Lucky Charm used). I don't know what happened. We were just lucky. Messerschmitts drove that fighter away before it could attack again. One of the four was driven off by our defensive fire and the other two missed. We were now near Villacoublay and returned without further incidents. Signed by Frank Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich, Pilot PLAY TEST COMMENTS: 401 Squadron appears first in August, but I added it now to test it. It works except for the weak section on Fighter Cover vs Hurricanes, which I must do more work on. One of the pilots in 401 Squadron scored 1 hit in the Nose/Pilot Compartment. The instruments were hit and the result on He 111 Table Bl-2 Instruments was "12 - Electrical System." Nothing else to do but to bail out. I chose to use a Lucky Charm to get out of this mess. (Whenever a crew man rolls "12" (Landing for instance) or "6" (To Hit) and "6" (Damage) he recieves a Lucky Charm. I can use it to negate a result. In the example above the hit to the Electrical System resulted in a "No Effect" when the crew man used his Lucky Charm to save the plane and crew. He can also use it on himself when he is KIA or when another crew man is KIA. I don't use Lucky Charms to increase To Hit or damge rolls. Obergefreiter Krüger hit one of the 401 Squadron Hurricanes with a Passing Shot on 6 To Hit and 6 Damage. He has now a Lucky Charm. I also use a die roll to confirm a KIA. A damage result of 5-6 is a KIA as in the original rules, but I have used 2D6 and today a D6 to determine if this KIA is confirmed or a Probable. Even if it is a probable it will still count toward "Ace Hood." HQ will confirm a KIA on 2, 11 and 12 on 2D6. A crew man will have a killmark by his name in the "NOTES" and an Award Point will be added to his score. Luftwaffe used a point system to award medals. A single engine fighter was worth 1 point; twin enigine fighters 2 points and a four engine bomber 3 points on the West Front. Today I used a D6. A roll of 6 will confirm a KIA. I was lucky and rolled a "6." Obergefreiter Krüger had his Hurricane confirmed and will be awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class which is worth 1 point. When he has two more Award Points HQ will give him the Iron Cross, 1st Class.) Awards and Medals in He 111 (still under construction) HERE. This method of obtaining Lucky Charms and confirming KIAs is not in He 111. It is something I use to increase surviabilty and a more correct count of confirmed KIAs. What I have noticed during my four play-test missions is that I really must do something to correct "Fighter Cover vs Hurricanes."
3/3	July 13/14, 1940	Location L, Mines	Obergefreiter Krüger recieved word that his Spitfeuer had been confirmed. He was happy and talked about it the entire mission. Aunt Agda wouldn't even come close. It is funny how one man can talk about so little for such a long a time AND still do his job. It would turn out to be a long quiet mission until we were West of Melbourne (Zone 7). A night fighter was closing in, but it never spotted us. We may have been flying too low for him to see us. We believe it was a Hurricane. Obergefreiter Krüger spotted it when the moonlight hit it for a short moment. A Beaufighter MK IF attacked us 70 kilometers North West of Melbourne (Zone 8). We spotted him, but since we were at low-level we couldn't do much evasive action. He was at 5 level, outside of our field of fire. He knew what he was doing and fired a short powerful, well-aimed burst. He hit us in the Bomb Bay. Bomb doors inoperable, control cables damged and the mines were hit. We thought he would come around for a second attack, but he must have lost us. Obergefreiter Wagner went to the bomb bay to try to open the doors. He did a good job, but when they were open we were slow. Fortunately, no fighters were in the area. We dropped our mines on target, but we could identify some vessels nearby, but not what type they were. Probably minesweepers! Obergefreiter Wagner could close the door without any problems and we got our speed back. Another Beaufighter MK IF was closing in, but could not spot us. It was the last fighter near us until we were over the Channel with only 20 kilometers to the Frnech Coast. It, too, lost us. There was no further incidents on this mission. Signed by Frank Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich, Pilot PLAY TEST REMARK: I chose to use the October column for night fighters, so that I could test the different night fighter types. I can tell you this: The Beaufighter fired only once with his four 20mm Hispano, but the effect of a hit can be very disastrous. I was lucky that he lost my bomber on his radar. It is not clear in He 111: The Spade if Low-Level Flak will fire on low level night missions. I did not use low-level flak on this mission when I noticed this. I was thinking that the bomber may move too fast and it is too dark for low level flak to be effective. The engineer went to the bomb bay to try to open the bomb bay doors. i think I'll add a note in the P- Tables about repairs should be attempted at the end of each turn, before Mechanical Failures. Night Fighter B-1 and B-2 may change: B-1: 0-3 is none. 4-5 is 1 fighter near. 6-7 is 2 fighters near. B-2: 0-3 is none. 4 is 1 near. 5-6 2 two near. NIGHT FIGHTER CONTACT TABLE (OPTIONAL): I made two changes during the mission. Blenheim IF modifiaction changed from +1 to +2 and Beaufighter MK IF changed from +2 to +3. I also have no idea anylonger why I put "Bomber with more than one veteran crew man (11+ mission): -1" as a modifier in this table. I can't remember now if I wanted it there and had an idea about it or if it is a mistake. Delete that part for now and add "Night Fighter Veteran or Ace: +1" and "Night Fighter Green Pilot: -1" NIGHT FIGHTER SPOTTING TABLE Notice that I made a mistake here: Bomber at Low-level should be -1 not +1 On Page 13 in The Spade under Night Mission, Mission Briefing, don't roll on NM-1 for the formation position. TARGET LIST Roll # 15 and 21: Flak is -2 I think that was all for now.
2/2	July 12, 1940	Watton, Industry	Take-off was shaky. Frank was a little shaky today. A bad memory from Poland reminded him of the time when he was wounded. He ended up hospitalized for two months and have been on ground duty until we came to Villacoublay at the end of June. That is why he is still an Unterfeldwebel. We shouldn't make fun of him for that! Once we were air-borne he was fine. We didn't see any fighters until we were over the English coast. A lone Spitfeuer attacked from a vertical climb, but was driven off by our Bf 109s before he had a chance to fire. Flak was light over the target. We got hit and it shook us around for a moment, but it was not enough to cause any problems for Obergefreiter Schwartz in the nose. Shrapnel from the shell must have hit us, because we found out at landing that the wheel on the left side was punctured. Three waves attacked when we had turned around. The first wave was driven off, but two Hurricane veterans slipped through. One of them hit us and came around for a second attack, but Obergefreiter Schwartz in the nose damaged him slightly and his aim was off. The pliot missed and disappeared. He damaged the right wing the first time though. A 19 Squadron Spitfeuer was the last to attack before we left the target behind us. Obergefreiter Wagner damaged him enough to make him miss. Over the Channel a small force of Hurricanes neared our bombers, but they were driven off by fighters long before they were a real threat to us. Landing was almost as shaky as the take-off due to the punctured wheel. Signed by Konrad Krüger Obergefreiter Konrad Krüger, Wireless Operator PLAY TEST REMARK: It was my second He 111 mission. The dilemma I had on this mission was how to roll for Fighter Cover vs Veteran and Ace Hurricane Pilots. That is not described and detailed in the He 111: The Spade Guidelines or by the Fighter Cover vs RAF Table. I have to do some work on it. Perhaps separate FC rolls vs Aces and Veterans? The 19 Squadron Spitfire was actually driven off by fighter cover automatically (Good FC is at least one fighter removed in the initial wave) but I decided to keep it as an attacker because I wanted to test 19 Squadron and the Hispano-Suiza 20mm Cannon Guideline. The Spit was FCA and missed both with the machine guns and cannons (1x moderate flak due to the FCA). The next mission will be to Location L, a mining mission to Zone 10. Don't tell my crew! I don't want them to chicken out before this long mission. I suspect that it will be a tough one.
1/1	July 10, 1940	Isle of Wight, Convoy 4	This was our first mission. We must have surprised the RAF this morning, because there were no fighters seen at all. The only opposition we had on route to our target was the flak from the escorts around the convoy trying to reach the ports behind Isle of Wight. We were at around 7500 feet today. Hauptgefreiter Neumann had a good view of the ships through his bomb sight and wasn't disturbed by the flak. He managed to place 60% of our bombs among the vessels. At least one was seriously damaged. After we had accomplished our objective, flak hit us. Neumann was very seriously wounded by shrapnel. Three Spitfeuer also attacked. One from our right side and two from behind. Obergefreiter Wagner Krüger managed to hit one Spitfeuer critically. It went down in smoke and one bomber crew reported a parachute in the air soon there after. Hurricanes attacked when we were over the Channel, but our Bf 109s drove them off. They were doing a great job! No enemies managed to get through and get a good shot at the bombers. The last enemy left two minutes before we crossed the French coast line. It was a relief to see our airfield at Villacoublay and get Neumann to the infirmary. He will not return to our crew, but be sent home. Signed by Frank Ehrlich Unterfeldwebel Frank Ehrlich, Pilot PLAY TEST REMARK: It was my first mission with this He 111 variant. I was surprised; It was exciting and seemed to be working well. I forgot that I had GOOD Fighter Cover on the return route in the Target Zone.

CREW MEN SENT HOME OR KILLED

CREW STATION	NAME	RANK	EXPERIENCE	Missions	CLAIMED KILLS CONFIRMED	Notes
Bombardier	Ralf Neumann Hauptgefreiter		-1	1	-	Wounded July 10, 1940. Sent home. Gunnery Points (Award Pt): 0 (0) Mission Points: 2 ½ Bomb Run ON/%: 1/60
Wireless Operator	Konrad Krüger Obergefreiter	+0	5	0/0/1 1	Gunnery: 2 Award: 1 Mission: 5 ½	KIA (2x SW) July 17, 1940

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CREW STATION	NAME/RANK	EXPERIENCE	Missions	CLAIMED KILLS CONFIRMED	Experience Points	Notes
Pilot	Frank Ehrlich Feldwebel	+0	7		Mission: 8 ½ Award:
Observer					Gunnery: Award: Mission:
Bombardier	Walter Schwartz Obergefreiter	+0	6	3/0/1 1	Gunnery: 3 ½ Award: 1 Mission: 7 ON/%: 3/80	Replacement for H.gef. Neumann. KIA, July 23, 1940
Wireless Operator	Mauritz Schramm Gefreiter	-1	2	2/0/1	Gunnery: 3 Award: Mission: 4	Replacement for Ob.gef. Krüger. INFIRMARY: Serious Wound - July 23, 1940. Will return to duty.
Engineer	Martin Wagner Hauptgefreiter	+0	7	1/1/0	Gunnery: 1 ½ Award: 0 Mission: 8	KIA, July 23, 1940.

Frank Ehrlich

Frank Ehrlich

Frank Ehrlich

Frank Ehrlich

Konrad Krüger

Frank Ehrlich